Rose Bouquet
by Lady Maria
Summary: Sequel to Back Before the War. Years later, Buffy and Shawn's adopted children are going through a rough time. Will life work itself out?


_Another response to Candle's challenge…kinda anyways.  I own nothing except the story line._

_The song is Rose Bouquet by Phil Vassar. This is a sequel to Back Before the War and takes place approximately thirteen years later._

**We were somethin', you and me**

**Yeah we had 'em rollin' in the aisles**

**We got it right once, didn't we?**

**We had our shot and missed it by a mile**

**Forget the bitter end**

**Can you remember when?**

His sister was watching, her eyes troubled, but her mouth didn't move. Neither did her fingers. 

His guess was that she was doing the silent thing again. Ken was good at the silent thing; always had been.  She knew what was troubling him and somehow knew that he wanted to talk about it…after he sorted out the thoughts in his head.

Kevin had loved his wife. He had thought that it would be a forever marriage, never ending. He'd thought that they would always be in love.

Man, did he miss on that prediction.  He missed it by a mile and a half.

Who would have thought that she would break her wedding vows so easily?

**We sang, we laughed**

**They all watched us dance**

**They circled around us**

**And toasted to forever**

**We played to win**

**We never gave in**

**And we threw it all away**

**Like your rose bouquet**

Kendra watched Kevin, watched her twin. She knew that he was thinking of his ex-wife; it wasn't that hard to decipher from the clues. 

He'd always said that she was the quiet one; the silent one. But the accident had changed that.

Her bubbly older brother was suddenly withdrawn. Their Uncle Xander had told her that it would take time for Kev to adjust to the silence.  He was always dispensing information like that; he was a therapist after all.

But she'd understood that fact from the moment that the doctor had told them that the car accident had taken away Kev's hearing. She may have been the Slayer, but she was smart too.

So was Kevin.  She'd become a wrestler like their adopted father but he'd actually used the degree in law that he'd gotten. 

He was planning on teaching law full time in the fall, and work as the WWE's lawyer on the side.

The thing was, was that for a time there, she honestly hadn't thought that he'd ever make it to the point where he'd get back into the rhythm of life.

He might have, if that bitch hadn't decided to proposition one of his colleagues, not realizing that said colleague was gay and devoted to his partner. Jim had told her, knowing that Kevin did not need to have another thing added to the other stuff going on in his life. 

But Kevin was Kevin, recuperating from a serious injury or not, and he'd known something was up.  He'd finally gotten her to tell him, and she'd had to watch his heart break.

**Passion flows like a long white gown**

**But it ain't easy to keep your love alive**

**We hoped each other would come around**

**We'll use the lessons for better luck next time**

**But how sweet it was back then**

**Do you remember when?**

He'd been deaf for nearly eight months and he still hadn't gotten used to not hearing the sounds. He also hadn't gotten used to not having her next to him.

Their passion had consumed them. How had they fallen out of love so easily? It was a question he often asked himself, but never had an answer for.

Sometimes, he wondered if that was what happened to Cordelia and Shane.  He'd wonder if maybe the mistakes of one generation were duty bound to haunt their children. 

He really hoped not.

**We sang, we laughed**

**They all watched us dance**

**They circled around us**

**And toasted to forever**

**We played to win**

**We never gave in**

**And we threw it all away**

**Like your rose bouquet**

Kendra sighed, her mind heavily troubled. She was twenty-nine, and it had been twelve years since that fateful meeting between her and Jenny.

 She'd never told anyone about it, not even Kevin. Time had dulled the pain she felt towards her biological parents and it had washed away the hatred. 

She could only hope that her brother would get past his pain and greet the day because one day, she wanted to broach the subject of Jenny. 

She couldn't do that if her two brothers weren't in the same room due to the fact that Kev had buried himself in work somewhere.  In her head she went over every prayer she'd ever known, and finally settled for making one up. ::God, please soothe my brother and make my task easier. Amen.::

**We sang, we laughed**

**They all watched us dance**

**They circled around us**

**And toasted to forever**

**We played to win**

**We never gave in**

**And we threw it all away**

**Like your rose bouquet **

Life changed. He'd changed with it, and he hoped that he'd changed for the better.  His sister smiled suddenly, her fingers finally asking him if he wanted to talk.

He signed back that maybe they could go get ice cream and invite Jesse to come along instead of revisiting something that couldn't be changed.  "Besides," he knew that his voice didn't sound exactly normal, but there was nothing he could do to change that, "she's moved on.  I figure it's time for me to as well."

"Sure."  Her smile reached her eyes and smoothed away the worry that had been there for so long.  "Jesse's got a new boyfriend who he wants us to meet.  Mom and Dad already have."

"It's serious, then?"

"I figure it is." She shrugged then signed, "Plus he knows about the things that go bump. What more could we ask for in a guy for our little brother?"

He signed back, "Absolutely nothing."

"Now let's go get that ice cream," she grinned as they left the house, her fingers already punching in the number for her younger brother's cell phone.

_Well? How was it? Should I write a sequel? Tell me, and it might get written…eventually._

_In the first story, Catlimere pointed out that it was 'sad that Kendra couldn't forgive her parents.' My parents had an extremely nasty divorce that dragged on for nearly a decade. It was actually nastier than the divorce I wrote about in Back Before the War, and it took me a long time to get past the hurt._

_REVIEW! REVIEW!_


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